Corporate Travel Clicks On to Online Booking Solutions

9 September 2003

Online travel is here to stay—and business travelers have spoken. They want to book their travel with the convenience of a few clicks. Corporations, of course, need to contain and reduce costs by managing how business travel is purchased at their company. A new approach in managed travel is to implement flexible customer-centered programs. These programs deliver significant cost savings by integrating all the divergent aspects of corporate travel into one suite of tools.Ê Corporate travel is one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry. It comprised more than 40 percent, or $78.6 billion, of the $193 billion U.S. travel market in 2002, according to PhoCusWright.

The managed corporate marketplace is expected to increase by about 30 percent to $104 billion, or 46 percent of a larger $225 billion total U.S. pie, by 2005. Additionally, the managed online segment alone is expected to increase nearly 130 percent to $30 billion by 2005. (www.phocuswright.com)

A new survey of corporate travel managers found that by year`s end, more than nine in 10 companies with managed travel programs will be using an online booking tool for transient travel and, more than four in 10 will be doing so for meetings and group travel. The survey was done by PhoCusWright and released at the August 2003 National Business Travel Association convention. (cybercity.nbta.org/phocuswright.htm)

A recent Harris Interactive survey found that the majority of business travelers book their own travel (81%), and cite competitive prices (65%), ease of use (48%) and customer support (46%) as the most important capabilities of a corporate travel provider.

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Marka Jenkins, president and CEO of Travelport Corporate Solutions, was named to Travel Agent magazine`s seventh annual list of “Most Powerful Women in Travel” for 2002. The U.S. trade publication highlights industry leaders who have made significant contributions and play an essential role in the travel industry. (www.travelagentcentral.com)